Dr Rasha Kelej
By Ebere Agozie
Dr Rasha Kelej, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Merck Foundation, has disclosed that the Foundation had developed several programmes aimed at empowering African media talents through media recognition awards.
We focus on building African media capacity through our trainings, scholarships and media recognition awards throughout the year.
We recently celebrated more than 150 winners from African media organisations and provided training to more than 1,200 journalists in 18 African countries.
This programme will continue and progress in the next 10 years in partnership with African First Ladies and ministries of communication and information across Africa, she told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview in Abuja.
The CEO noted that the foundation also empowers youths and women in media through training and Master Classes for media award winners to raise awareness about health and sensitive issues such as coronavirus, infertility, stigma and girl education.
Merck Foundation is a philanthropic organisation committed to promoting the well-being of people and advancing their lives through science, particularly women and youth in underserved communities around the globe.
Reacting to her inclusion in the women jury for the 2020 APO Group African Women in Media Award, Kelej said her selection underscored the importance of gender equality in business and media.More Than a Mother. It is aimed at breaking the infertility stigma and empowering childless and infertile women through access to information, health, change of mind set and economic empowerment, she said.
NAN also reports that some of the global icons on the jury include, famous black actress and model, Naomi Campbell, and Fatma Samoura, the Secretary-General of FIFA.
Others are Nitin Gajria, Sub-Saharan Africa Director of Google, Vanessa Moungar, Director, Gender, Women and Civil Society of AfDB, and Rose Thuo, Head of Communications and Marketing, Africa, for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), among others.
Source: NAN News